People in New Delhi protesting against the gang rape. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
The US State Department has awarded one of its International Women of Courage Awards for 2013 to the 23-year-old woman who died after being gang-raped in the Indian capital, Delhi reported BBC News.
The award will be presented posthumously and will be presented by Secretary of State John Kerry, at a ceremony attended by first lady Michelle Obama on Friday.
The woman was attacked on a bus in Delhi on December 16 and was sent to Singapore for treatment. During her time at the hospital, she recorded two police statements and asked for justice to be served repeatedly.
She died two weeks after the incident while under treatment.
The woman, who remains anonymous, has become known as Nirbhaya, meaning "Fearless”. Her courage was admired globally and her death sparked widespread outrage in India.
In a statement on Monday, the State Department said "For millions of Indian women, her personal ordeal, perseverance to fight for justice, and her family's continued bravery is helping to lift the stigma and vulnerability that drive violence against women," it said.
There has been an-going movement in India since, which includes protests and debates on the gender-biased violence prevalent in the country.
Among the other nine women receiving the award are Tibetan blogger and activists Tsering Woeser, Russian journalist and rights activists Elena Milashina and Razan Zeitunah, a Syrian human rights lawyer who founded the Local Coordination Committees which has documented casualties and right violations throughout the country's conflict.
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Made me want to cry. But very proud of the US state department to select her as one of the awardees. What a terrible tragedy. She did so want to live....
As a result of the sad event in December 2012, there has bean an apparent positive fall out- women no more fee stigmatised about having been raped- they are reporting such incidents and the state is reacting to complaints. THis is a ray of hope- tomorrow will be better than today.